Pupils at Great Bardfield Primary School enjoy going to school and learn in an environment that means they can achieve their best, according to Ofsted, the Office for Standards in Education, which has inspected the school and rated it as good.

The inspector said in a letter to headteacher Alison Kerrell: “All the pupils I spoke to enjoy coming to school and are proud of their school.

“Many changes have occurred since you took up the post of headteacher three years ago. Your passion for providing pupils with a high-quality education and your insightful leadership have brought about noteworthy improvements to the school. You have galvanised staff and there is a strong sense of teamwork throughout the school. Parents are complimentary about the changes you have introduced.”

The report says that the pupils read to the inspector “with confidence, fluency and expression” and added that work in pupils’ books across the year groups showed that they made good progress in a range of subjects.

In order to improve further, the inspector said teachers should ensure that the work provided for the most able pupils enables them to reach higher levels of understanding.

Teachers should have the same high expectations of pupils’ work in other subjects as are they evidently have in mathematics and English.

Headteacher, Mrs Kerrell said: “We are delighted with the report. We have all worked hard over the past three years and we have listened to the children. They children said they wanted more sport so we have provided that so they can take part in competitions.

We emphasise five core skills: respect, resourcefulness, resilience, responsibility - and reflection, taking time to think things through. We want the children to have self respect, respect for each other and for their environment.

“It is important that the children are aspirational, they are tenacious in their learning and willing to try things, that they are notbe afraid to fail. The children have worked very hard.

“We’re also very appreciative of the support from parents and from our governors who are all volunteers and support us in everything we do.”